Action - Betting. When a pot has a lot of callers, or lots of raising, it's an "action pot". When a flop comes out with lots of high cards that are typically held by players (such as AKQ), this can be called an "action flop" because it's a flop that's likely to generate a lot of action.
All-in - A player that bets all his money on the table is "all in".
Ante - A small amount that every player must pay to play a hand. See also: Blind, Bring-in.
Back door - A back door draw is one that requires the player to hit two successive cards to make. For instance, in Texas Holdem, if a player holds A9, and the board is 478, then he has a back door straight draw (the 789 can hit two cards to make a straight). For straights, some back door draws are easier to make than others (789 offers more outs than 458).
Bad beat - When someone is overwhelmingly the favorite to win a hand, and yet lose it.
Bankroll - The money you play poker with.
Bellybuster - Aka, inside straight draw. A straight draw that can only be made with 1 card instead of two (for instance, 5689 is a bellybuster straight draw to the 7). See also: Double Bellybuster, Open Ended.
Blank - A card that doesn't help your hand, or a card that doesn't appear to help your opponent's hand.
Blind - A forced bet, by one or more players, based on position, meant to induce action. Differs from an ante, because: (a) only a small number of players put the money in to start, and (b) it counts towards betting for the opening round. See also: Ante, Bring-in.
Bluff - A deceptive action, intended to make your opponent believe you have a different hand than you really do.
Board - In community card games like Texas Holdem, the board is the community cards.
Bring-in - A forced bet, usually in stud games, meant to induce action. Differs from an ante, because: (a) only one player is forced to bet, and (b) it counts towards betting for the opening round. See also: Ante, Blind.
Broadway - A straight made up of AKQJT.
Button - In some poker games, such as Texas Holdem, the position of the dealer is an integral part of the game, because it determines where betting begins and who the blinds are. The button is the little disc that's usually used to represent the "dealer" in games where the house provides a non-player dealer to actually deal the cards.
Buy-in - In a cash game, the buy-in is the minimum amount of money you're allowed to bring to the table. In a tournament game, the buy-in is the cost to play the tournament.
Chase, Chaser - To chase means to attempt to hit your drawing hands. A chaser is someone who chases. It's usually a pejoritive, meant to indicate someone who is making bad plays trying to hit their straight or flush draws (especially when they keep hitting them!).
Dead hand - A hand that is out of play. For example, when someone mucks their cards, their hand is dead.
Dead money - A term used by professional gamblers to describe players who have little chance of winning.
Drawing dead - A hand that has no chance of improving against its opponents.
Draw out - To defy the odds and hit an extremely unlikely hand. For example, a pocket pair against an over-pair has 2 outs to hit a set, which is relatively unlikely. If they get the card they need, they drew out.
Door card - In 7 card stud, you are dealt 2 down cards and 1 up card for the first round of betting. The up card is your door card.
Double bellybuster - In games where players have more than 5 total cards, a double bellybuster draw is two inside straight draws together (for example, you hold 35679, that's a double draw to the 4 or 8). See also: Bellybuster, Open Ended.
Early position - In games with a dealer button, early position is those players who must act early every round. See also: Late Position, Middle Position.
Effective odds - The consideration of how much potential money you could win with the hand, versus the current bet. This is different from pot odds, which are a stricter calculation of the value of the pot now (effective odds guess at what the value of the pot will be at the end of the hand). See also: Pot odds.
Even money - A hand where your odds to win are approximately 50% (especially when heads up).
Favorite - The hand which is statistically likely to win.
Flop - In community card games like Texas Holdem, the flop is the first group of 3 community cards revealed.
Four-flush - When you have four cards for a flush, and only need a fifth card.
Free card - A round of betting where everybody checks results in a free card.
Freeze out - A tournament in which rebuying is not allowed.
Gut shot - See Bellybuster.
Heads up - A hand in which only two players are playing.
High/low split - A game in which the pot can be split by the best high and low hands. There is usually a qualifier for low hand (such as "8 or lower"). In games where the player has more than 5 cards, they can make their low hand from different cards than they make with their high hand.
Hole - In games where some cards are visible, your hole cards are the ones that the other players cannot see.
Implied odds - See Effective Odds.
Kicker - When comparing two identical hands, the kicker card is often used to determine which hand wins. For example, if one player has AA887 and the other has AA883, the 7 and 3 are the kicker cards, and the former player is the winner. Note that some poker hands require all five cards (straight, flush, straight flush, full house), so these hands do not have any available kicker cards.
Late position - In games with a dealer button, late position is those players who act later in every round. See also: Early Position, Middle Position.
Limit - Games where betting is in prescribed increments. For example, a $3/6 limit Texas Holdem game limits bets and raises to $3 for the first two rounds, and $6 for the last two rounds. See also: No Limit, Pot Limit.
Live card - In stud games, your unexposed cards. In community games, when exposing cards, the cards you don't share with your opponent are live cards. For instance, when heads up, AK vs. A9, the K and 9 are live cards (the ace helps both players, so any aces that show up in the community cards help both players equally).
Loose - A player who plays more hands than normal.
Lowball - Poker games where the lowest hand wins instead of the highest. Unlike High/low split games, these games are only about low hands and there are no qualifiers like "8 or lower".
Middle position - In games with a dealer button, middle position is those players who act roughly in the middle of the round. See also: Early Position, Late Position.
Multi-way pot - When the opening round of betting sees many players staying, that's a multi-way pot.
No limit - Games where the betting has a minimum requirement, but no maximum. At any time, players may be between the minimum and all the money they have at the table. See also: Limit, Pot Limit.
Nuts - The best possible hand in a community card game. For example, with a Texas Holdem board of Ac Ah 8c 6c 4s, the nuts would be four of a kind aces. The "second nuts" (second best hand) would be a full house aces full of 8s (AAA88), next would be AAA66, AAA44, etc.
Off-suit - In games with hole cards, such as Texas Holdem, your cards are said to be off-suit if they don't share a suit. For example, AcKh is ace-king off-suit. See also: Suited.
On the come - When a player is betting a hand that isn't yet made (i.e., a four flush).
On-tilt - When a player is emotionally affected by the outcome of a previous hand or hands, and it is causing them to play more poorly.
Open ended - A straight draw that can completed with either of 2 cards instead of 1; i.e., 5678 is open ended to a 4 or 9. See also: Bellybuster, Double Bellybuster.
Out - A card that can help your hand improve from losing to winning. A Texas Holdem example: the board shows 7c 8c 9s, player 1 holds Ac Tc, player 2 holds 8h 9h. Player 2 is ahread with two pair (8s and 9s), but player 1 has many outs that could him the winning hand: any club for a flush (9 cards), 6h 6s 6d Th Ts Td for a straight (6 cards), so we say player 1 has 15 outs.
Outdraw - See Draw Out.
Overcard - Any card higher than the cards on the board. If you hold AK and the board is showing 652, you have two overcards.
Overpair - Any pair that is higher than the cards on the board. If you hold KK and the board is showing J94, you have an overpair. See also: Underpair.
Pay off - To make a call where you believe you are probably not the winning hand. Generally, in very large pots in limit games, players will pay off the relatively small bets on the river, on the statistical chance that their opponent is bluffing.
Pocket - Your hole cards in a community card game.
Position - The order in which you bet in a game with a dealer button.
Pot - The money in the middle of the table that's eligible to be won in the hand.
Pot limit - Games where the betting has a minimum requirement, and the maximum amount you can raise is the value in the pot currently (presuming you were to call). So, for example: the pot contains $25, and it will cost you $5 to call. If you wish to raise, you can raise $30 (the $25 + your implied $5 call), making your total bet $35 (your call + your raise). See also: Limit, Pot Limit.
Pot odds - Using the likelihood that you will turn your losing hand into a winning hand, to compare the amount of money in the pot to the amount of money you need to call for this round.
Put on a hand - Analyzing your opponents current and previous play to arrive at a conclusion about what hands he is likely to be holding now.
Quads - Slang for four-of-a-kind.
Rag - See Blank.
Rake - When playing poker in a casino, they will take a portion of the pot (because poker is pitting player against player, instead of player against house). This is the rake.
Rebuy - In a tournament, when you lose all your chips, and you're allowed to contribute more money for more chips to continue playing.
Represent - The act of portraying to others that you have a specific hand. For instance, when a flop comes 997, and you bet strongly, you could be said to be representing three 9s.
River - In Texas Holdem and Omaha, the fifth and final community card (also known as 5th Street). See also: Turn.
Rolled up - In 7 card stud games, being dealt three of a kind as your first three cards.
Sandbag - See Slowplay.
Semi-bluff - A bluff with a hand that is currently a loser, but has a chance of improving (for instance, raising with a four flush).
Set - Slang for three of a kind. In community games, specialized to mean a pair in the hole with the third card coming from the board. See also: Trips.
Short-stacked - In a tournament, when you have very few chips relatively to the blinds and antes.
Side pot - When 3 or more players are involved in a pot, and at least one player is all in, the other players' betting will be part of a side pot. The all-in player is not eligible to win the side pot, because you can only win as much money from each player as you can put at risk.
Slowplay - The act of portraying a very strong hand as though it were fair to weak.
Split pot - When two or more players have the exact same ranked hand, the pot is split as equally as possible between those players.
Steal - When someone with a poor hand bets and wins an uncontested pot.
Steam - Playing recklessly; betting, raising and calling with poor hands.
Street - A general term for cards that come out one at a time. For instance, the final 4 cards in 7 card stud are called 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th street.
Stuck - Money you've lost in the current session.
Suck out - Same as draw out, except with a more negative connotation.
Suited - In games with hole cards, such as Texas Holdem, your cards are said to be suited if they share the same suit. For example, AcKc is ace-king suited. See also: Off Suit.
Table Stakes - The concept that you can only risk the money that's on the table when the hand is dealt (i.e., you cannot add money to your stack later in the hand when you've determined you have a very good hand).
Tight - A player who plays very few hands.
Trips - Slang for three of a kind. In community games, specialized to mean a single card in the hole with the other two cards coming from the board. See also: Set.
Turn - In Texas Holdem and Omaha, the fourth community card (also known as 4th Street). See also: River.
Under-the-gun - The player who is first to act after the blinds.
Underpair - Any pair that is lower than the highest card on the board (especially those that are lower than all the cards on the board). If you hold 33 and the board is showing KJ6, you have an underpair. See also: Overpair.
Wheel - A straight made with A2345. The best low hand in a high/low split game and some low-ball games.
Wired pair - In community games (especially Texas Holdem), holding a pair in your hole cards.